Not long ago I came home from work and discovered that the telephones throughout our house were completely dead. There’s a small box attached to the house where the phone line comes in. That’s where a person can verify if the problem is inside the house or has to do with the line coming in. I tested it and found out that the incoming line was as dead as a door nail. I used my cell phone to call the company, and they sent out a technician. He confirmed that the line to the house was dead. Our line is underground and runs from where it enters the house to a place at the back of our property line. We couldn’t figure out what had happened. It was alive at the property line but dead where it entered the house.

Using a special instrument, the technician discovered that the line had somehow been cut. Then things began to fall into place. The day before, the neighbor had installed a fence along the property line and had inadvertently cut the line underground. The phone man put in a temporary line, and the following week the company came and made it all permanent, and the problem was solved.

I was impressed with the service of the telephone company. A company is successful if it is service oriented. We tend to do business with people who not only give us the best price but also the best service.

I suspect that this mentality is sometimes carried over somewhat into our concept of prayer. We tend to see God as the ultimate service call.

What’s wrong with that? you ask. When we call a service representative to fix the washing machine, or we take our car in to be repaired, we don’t have to be on good terms with the people there. In fact, sometimes if we feel we are not getting the service we deserve, we might even let them know or file a complaint. This kind of attitude can be fatal to our relationship with God and makes a person’s prayer life a “no go” and ineffective.

The whole idea of prayer is not to get God to serve us, but we must learn to come to Him with an attitude of service to Him and to do His will. We don’t need to be confused by this or to feel that He doesn’t care about us; because our Heavenly Father cares for us more than we care for ourselves, and He knows what we need ever better than we do.

I once expressed to someone that I believe God created us to glorify Himself and for His pleasure. This person seemed to have a little trouble with this concept, as though he thought it was a little selfish of Him!

His attitude was, “But what about MY happiness? If I’m always trying to make God happy, when will I get a day off, so to speak, to enjoy myself?” Let me tell you something, my friends. Believe it or not, when we are making God happy and glorifying His name, we could not be happier. In fact, the significance and meaning of our entire existence—that is, our present and ultimate happiness—is wholly in proportion to the extent to which we are doing His will and serving Him.

This is extremely important for us to understand. Some of us do tend to see prayer as a type of service call. We think it is something to be done mechanically or by the numbers, so to speak. We say to ourselves, “If I do it this way or say it that way, it will work for me. If it’s not working for you, try saying it this way.” No, prayer is not about doing, it is about being. No matter how technically correct our prayers may be, if our attitudes are not right our prayers may be all for nothing.

Prayer can easily lose meaning like anything else that becomes a habit. People complain sometimes that their marriages have become boring. They want to spice things up a bit, so they begin experimenting with new things.

By the way, we need to be very careful when trying to give meaning to relationships by experimenting with new approaches. Don’t misunderstand me, but to get new meaning in relationships we need to have new attitudes, not new techniques. The techniques that the world is pushing these days, if implemented in our lives, can destroy our relationships, make no mistake about it.

I suppose that it might be an over simplification, but sin is about wrong attitudes. Wrong attitudes, of course, will always lead to wrong actions. The reverse of this is not necessarily true. Right actions will not necessarily change wrong attitudes. We all know that it is possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason.

We may be able to think of a thousand needs that we have or a thousand problems that may beset us. However, the fact is our greatest need is to have new attitudes. I don’t know whether you realize it or not but the most serious problems that come to us in life are usually the result of our wrong attitudes. I don’t know what the greatest burden of your prayers might be at this moment. But I would strongly suggest that if we are not already concerned, we should now become concerned. Not about everybody else’s attitudes, but with our own.

You’ve heard the expression, “I don’t like your attitude.” Well, the more I look into the depths of my own heart, the more I don’t like my attitudes. This has been especially meaningful to me, because in the last few years I have had a number of things happen to me that has shown me what my attitudes are.

Out of our four children, three have had their marriages broken up. I’m sure that many of you can identify with this. When this happens, it can do a lot to bring out our worst attitudes. The initial reaction is, of course, sadness and disappointment. But then bitterness and resentment begin to set in. There is also anger and frustration. We may even feel shame and embarrassment.

Our gut reactions can easily be, “Why are they doing this to me? Where did I fail? What will people think of me? How do we pray for the former spouse who has left their home and the children?” I could go on and on.

As I pass through life, I realize that I have spent a lot of time praying that God would change the world and less time praying that He would change me and give me a right attitude. I am glad to say that sometimes I think I am finally coming around. I’m beginning to get my priorities straight, and I’m seeing some incredible miracles as a result of effective prayer.

No, I can’t tell you how this person was raised to life from the dead, or how the other person got a check in the mail for just the amount they needed the day that the bank was to foreclose on them. But I can tell you for sure that God is doing wonderful things in changing my heart. He’s not finished with me yet, but I can truly testify to the Bible promise that in Him old things are passing away and all things are becoming new. And we’re not talking about a new house, a new car, a new wardrobe, or even a new body. We’re talking about new hearts and new attitudes.

Praise. One of the attitudes that we must pray God will give us is the attitude of praise. Notice that I said the attitude of praise. Praise is first and foremost an attitude. A person who doesn’t have an attitude of praise cannot praise God, because God doesn’t look on the outside, He looks on the heart. I studied into this matter of praise because our language is being hollowed out these days. Many of the words we use today are only shells and empty of their original meanings.

To give praise to God is to give Him the credit. A person who has a selfish attitude cannot praise God. That person may go through the motions but it will not be praise that they will give to God, rather it will be flattery. You know what flattery is, don’t you? It’s insincere praise.

Have you ever noticed that we’re quick to ask God to do a favor for us; however, most of the time we’re slow to give Him the credit for answering our prayers? How many times have we prayed that God would heal a sick friend or loved one and then when they get well there is often nothing more said, or worse yet there may be some comments about how good the hospital was or how skillful the doctors were who did the treatments!

Many of us will get in the car before we take a trip and ask God to keep us safe, and then when we arrive safe and sound we don’t say a word about it.

Oh yes, we need the attitude of praise. Without the attitude of praise, we’re only going through the motions. These days there’s a lot of emphasis on trying to spice up the worship services in church. When are we going to catch on that a person who is not born again, a person who is worldly and selfish in his outlook, cannot praise God no matter how big a synthesizer he may have or how skilled the drama group may be?

When Scripture says, “O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness,” it’s not talking about clapping or shouting or beating drums or dancing or raising your hands or even saying Amen. It’s something about the heart. Rather than praying that God will teach us to praise Him, we should first pray that He will give us the attitude of praise. And so an essential attitude of effective prayer is praise.

Consecration. Another essential attitude of effective prayer is consecration. Jesus prayed, "Consecrate them in truth. For their sakes I consecrate Myself, that they themselves also may be consecrated in the truth.” John 17:17, 19.

A person who is not consecrated to God cannot pray effectively. When we pray “Thy will be done,” we’re saying that we’re consecrated and dedicated to do His will no matter what the cost.

Prayer is not an arm’s length transaction with God. We do business every day with strangers. We do it within the context of law. We can do business with a person and not even like them if they have what we want badly enough. With God this is an impossible relationship. Prayer is not doing business with God.

Scripture says that those who come to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. No, effective prayer is not an arm’s length transaction with God. When we come to Him in effective prayer, we must be totally committed to Him and with the understanding that we will indeed do His will.

Speaking of doing the will of God, another word for that is obedience. Doing the will of God is not always understood as obeying Him. To many people, obeying the will of God is seen as being legalistic. For many people these days speaking of keeping the Ten Commandments is a no-no.

For those who are somehow hung up on the word obedience and on keeping the Commandments, I would like to ask a question. Please tell me if a person who loves Jesus is somehow exempted from doing the will of God? And after someone answers that for me, tell me what the will of God is? Are the Ten Commandments His will or not?

A while back, I asked this question in the religious forum of America On Line. A person came back with, “We don’t need to keep the Commandments.” I responded by asking him which ones don’t we need to keep? Is it the one which says, “Thou shalt not kill”? or the one which says, “Thou shalt not steal”?

How long will this generation continue to kick against the Holy Spirit of God? We need to be continually renewing our commitment to the Lord if we are to pray effectively. A person may ask why we need to continually commit to the Lord. The answer is for the same reason that when we drive we have to keep our hands on the steering wheel. The driver is the same, the car is the same, but it’s the road that changes. And if we’re not committed to driving, we are sure to run off the road.

And so because of the fact that we live in a world of sin (sin is outside us and inside us), we must keep our consecration up to date. In fact, it is our consecration that reaches out to God when temptation comes along. When I’m tempted, I remind myself of my consecration to the Lord, and He gives me the grace to overcome.

Allow me to share a personal experience. I was driving down the road not long ago and an off-the-wall temptation came to my mind. When I realized I was being tempted, I said to myself, “O, I could never do that. My consecration to Christ does not permit that kind of thing.” I’m thankful for that still, small voice of conscience that caught me in time. Now I better understand the meaning of the words, “The love of Christ constrains me.” So, then, an attitude of consecration is essential if a person is to pray effectively.

Repentance. Another attitude that is indispensable for effective prayer is the attitude of repentance. The words confession and repentance are often seen together. Some people are willing to confess but not to repent. Other people say that they have repented but they are not willing to confess.

The Bible is clear that we are to confess our faults to each other and as a result we will be healed. If we continually wrong someone and don’t confess it to them, it will finally boil over and can result in broken relationships, the foremost of which is our marriage. There are husbands and wives who fight all the time, and the situation goes from bad to worse because there is never any confession and asking for forgiveness.

This is why I have found that when a couple is about to break up, one or the other of them many times will say, “Well, I never loved him or her anyway.” They say this because at that point all they can see in their memories are the many wrongs that were committed that were never sincerely made right.

You may think Well, why bring it up again? It is over now. Why do I need to ask for forgiveness? The other person knows that I am sorry. Friend, that can be a false assumption. The fact is that the other person may not know or believe that we are sorry, and so the wrong is filed away and will always come back to haunt us and will increase the pressure every time there is a falling out until at last there will be that final blow that will destroy the relationship.

I remember when I was a little boy and we used to go barefooted every summer. Through the years once in a while I remember having stepped on a rusty nail. To step on a rusty nail leaves what they call a puncture wound. A puncture wound tends not to bleed. As you know, bleeding actually serves to clean a wound. So I can remember that when I would step on a rusty nail, my folks would take me to get a tetanus shot.

Friends, when we wrong each other, even if it is by accident, the wound that we leave must be cleansed. The Scripture says that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

An attitude of repentance that is accompanied by confession is probably the most single important component of the Christian life. Many people study a lot about how to overcome sin, but they need to study first how to get out of sin once they fall into it.

Ladies and Gentlemen, when we have wounded our spouses or our children, it is not enough to think to ourselves, “Well, I know that I was wrong, but I won’t say anything. It will only make it worse.” That may depend on how we confess and what we say. Many men are afraid that if they admit that they were wrong and ask for forgiveness their families will lose respect for them. The fact is, Sir, it is just the opposite.

It is not enough that we just ask God to forgive us. When a man kneels down to pray after a big fight with his wife, he may say, “God, forgive me of my sins, Amen.” Though this man may not know it, unless he has also asked his wife to forgive him, he will probably live to regret it. You know the old saying, “Everything that goes around, comes around.”

The biggest mistake that any of us makes in our lives is when we make a mistake not to admit it and then not to ask forgiveness.

I hope that we are beginning to realize by now that when we speak about attitudes we can’t help but get down really deep into who we are and what we stand for. I may be over simplifying it, but I believe that our characters are to a large extent the sum of our attitudes.

This is why when we begin to learn to pray effectively, we must be addressing not just the things we do but we must get down to our attitudes. Because it is a person’s attitude that makes them do the things they do.

When we really get down to understanding the meaning of effective prayer, we will begin to understand that prayer is not something that we do for God but it is something that God does for us. Prayer is the umbilical cord of the Christian life. Prayer is where the Christian life is conceived and from where it is sustained and nourished.

You might be thinking, Pastor O’Ffill, if I must have all of these attitudes before my prayers will be effective, I might as well give up right now. Because I will never be able to attain all of those things that you say we must have.

Please, don’t be discouraged or give up. The answer is prayer. You see, prayer makes more prayer effective. The problem is that many times we don’t have the right priorities when we pray. We tend to pray all around the real problems. God is not only the One who will take us to heaven, but He is also the One who will get us ready to go if we will let Him. The place from which all of this happens, the launching pad, if you please, of victorious Christian living is prayer.

Thanksgiving. Another attitude of effective prayer is the attitude of thanksgiving. Don’t misunderstand me, but have you noticed that when we tell about the things we are thankful for they usually have to do with material or physical things? Of course, I am not complaining, because we all have material and physical needs.

There is nothing wrong with being thankful for these things. The problem we get into is that if for some reason we find ourselves out of work or we have a serious illness, then there go our blessings, out the window.

I worked overseas for a number of years. Several of those years were in places where the yearly income of the people averaged around $200 dollars or less. You are talking here about the matter of grinding poverty. I can remember going to church on Sabbath and seeing the people bringing their offerings. Sometimes it would amount to a fraction of a cent in our money or an egg or a little pan of flour.

These people literally lived from hand to mouth and had nothing but the clothes on their backs, which in many cases was nothing but rags. If being thankful is a matter of having material things, then I guess when the Bible calls on the believer to be thankful, most of the Christians in the world would not be able to comply.

Being thankful has a lot to do with our expectations. I remember visiting in a home with the pastor. We asked the lady of the house how her son was coming along. She said that her son was studying for his examinations. I didn’t know who they were talking about, but when it came time to leave, the lady said, “Do you want to say good-by to John?” So we went down the hall and into the first bedroom.

There lying on the bed was John, propped on his elbows studying. I had wondered why he hadn’t come out to say hello to us, but I thought it was because he was busy studying.

He extended his hand to greet me, and it was then I saw that the hand was twisted. At the same time I was shaking his hand, I saw that in the corner of the room was a wheel chair. He explained to me that he was paralyzed from the chest down. He had become paralyzed in a diving accident.

We got acquainted with him a little, and during our conversation he told me something I have never forgotten. He said, “I feel so sorry for people less fortunate than I am.” “Less fortunate than you” I thought. “Can’t you see how unfortunate you are?

Of course, I didn’t say that, but I shall never forget the point. Thankfulness is an attitude that comes from expectations. A person who thinks they deserve to be rich and famous will probably have few opportunities in their life to be thankful.

A person who somehow thinks that if they are a good enough Christian they will be spared trouble and suffering is going to be in for a big disappointment. This person will have little for which to thank God and will probably if they are not careful end up bitter and resentful at the end of their life.

I don’t know whether you are aware of it or not, but Jesus never promised us, as we say, a bed of roses in this life. On the contrary, He said that in this world we would have big trouble just like He did. He even said one time that we could expect to suffer like He did. He said, “I suffered, you can expect to suffer, too.”

It almost creates a “you can’t get there from here” case; because while He told us to expect to suffer, many other places in the New Testament call on us to give thanks in everything. Put two and two together then and it means that we are to be thankful even when we are going through big trouble.

This is a “can do” though, when we understand the meaning of the promise that all things work together for good to them that love God and to them that are called according to His purpose. Ladies and Gentlemen, that is talking about us.

Of course, if God is going to bring good from all that happens to us in our lives, we will have to understand what is really important. We will need to have our priorities straight. If we think that a big bank account is the ultimate experience and then we lose all of our savings, then what? The point is that as sons and daughters of God we realize as they say that “you can’t take it with you” and that includes not just our money but also even our mortal bodies. However, what we do take with us is who we are. That is our characters, and our characters are the sum of our attitudes.

This means that by a miracle of His grace there is never a situation in which or through which we are not developing our character. You remember the text which says (James 1:2-4): “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations:” (that means different kinds of trials). It goes on to say, “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work; that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting in nothing.”

So then an attitude of thankfulness is not built on sand castles. It is a gift that God gives to us that is a constant reminder that we are sons and daughters of God and that He has forgiven our sins and that He is giving us a new heart, and that means new attitudes.

Now, don’t misunderstand what I have been saying. I am not a sadist or a masochist. I do not enjoy suffering or seeing others suffer. However, I am a realist. This world is about suffering. But in spite of it all, our God is in the process of saving us. And because of this, we always no matter what have a reason to be thankful.

When you and I get to heaven, if you ask me how some of the experiences that I have passed through have been, I will have to tell you that some of them have been a nightmare. But I will also tell you that I will thank God forever that He shared His sorrow with me. As God gives us an attitude of thankfulness, you will notice how it will affect our prayer life.

Intercession. Probably one of the most often-referred-to aspects of prayer is that which is called intercessory prayer. Many have said that it is the epitome of prayer.

I have given some thought to intercessory prayer and have asked myself the question: “Why should it be the highest form of prayer? After all, it isn’t difficult to pray for others. Those of us who are parents and grandparents pray every day for our children and grandchildren. J There is no doubt that for us parents and grandparents, the biggest burden we carry is for our children and grandchildren.”

The matter of intercessory prayer begins to get complicated, though, when it has to do with praying for people that we don’t happen to be getting along with or worse the people we don’t like, if you know what I mean.

I guess what I am trying to say is that an attitude of intercessory prayer has a lot to do with our particular relationship with someone at a particular time.

Let me get a little more specific. It is pretty hard to be praying for someone we happen to be mad at. This is particularly true in the marriage relationship. I know that there are many exceptions, but I suspect that the divorce rate among Christians would be cut in half if one of the spouses were to be the intercessor.

This is why the Bible insists that we pray without ceasing. When someone stops praying in a situation of problems between individuals, there is not much hope for the relationship.

At the risk of repeating myself, I firmly agree with the person who said that life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to what is happening to us.

The current climate in this culture which says that we don’t have to put up with this or that or that we must not, if we value our self-esteem, let people walk on us, is making it nearly impossible to solve the problems we have among ourselves and to be effective intercessors.

It is natural to have problems. As soon as you have more than one person on this planet, you have problems to solve. There have always been problems in marriages since the very beginning of time. What is unique to this generation is the lack of will to give and take or to back down.

I don’t know if you have ever lived in a country where, when you shop, it is all about bargaining. It is really great fun to bargain when you shop. Have any of you ever done it?

I remember when I was in Mexico on a visit. We were buying some souvenirs. My friend and I were in one little shop, and my friend had picked out something he liked. The owner of the shop told him how much he wanted, and my friend offered him half the amount. The shop owner came down about 25 percent, and my friend said No and made another offer, more than half but less than the owner wanted. Finally they both reached a point where neither would give in; and the difference, if I remember correctly, was about fifty cents!

I said to my friend, “Go ahead and give it to him.” My friend said, “No, that is my last price.” I said to the shop owner, “Go ahead and let him have it.” “No,” said the owner, “That is my last price.” Suddenly the shop owner said, “Let’s flip for it. If you win, it is your price; if I win, it is mine.” We all laughed, and my friend agreed. They flipped a coin, and the shop owner lost! But everyone was happy in the end.

I don’t need to tell you that in a situation where two people must do business together, as in a marriage, someone is going to have to back down if we are going to stay married. The problem with this selfish age is that we are being taught to “look out for Number One” and to “stand up for our rights” and not to let people “put us down.” With this kind of attitude, it is impossible to stay married. The Scripture makes it clear when it says, “Can two walk together unless they be agreed?” To live with others successfully we must learn the art of backing down.

Back to the matter of having an attitude of an intercessor, a person who is selfish cannot be an intercessor, because they will be praying only in their own interests and for their own selfish purposes.

The concept of intercession is not me praying for me and my buddies or that my team will win. The true spirit of intercession that makes our prayers effective is the spirit that prays for those who disagree with me and even with those who are taking advantage of me and using or abusing me.

The classic model of intercession is our Lord Jesus Christ. There as they were nailing Him to the cross, He was praying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Scripture says that Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us. It says that while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly. Friends, all of this means that the attitude of intercession is an attitude that doesn’t discriminate for race, color, creed, gender, or religion. But it is an attitude that prays for its enemies. And that could actually be, at one time or another, a person’s husband or wife.

The problem is that when we are bitter and resentful we cannot be intercessors. The fact is that when we are bitter and resentful we usually stop praying. And if we do pray, our prayers tend to be spiritually garbled. Don’t forget, Jesus may have told some parables that were hard to understand, but He wasn’t talking in parables when He said that if we don’t forgive those who wrong us, He won’t forgive us.

This is pretty tough and can be discouraging. But don't worry. Don’t you think that if Jesus could create the heavens and the earth, don’t you think that if Jesus could heal the sick and raise the dead, then don’t you think that He can give us a new heart and heal our bitterness, our resentment, and our anger?

The Bible tells us to love our enemies. It tells us that if all we love is our friends and the people who agree with us, that hardly has any value because even the bad people love each other. Jesus taught us that you would be able to tell those who were His followers by the attitude that they showed to people who didn’t treat them good.

I had heard that those who get to heaven will sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. I couldn’t image what that might be until I heard a sermon that said the song of Moses and the Lamb is the song of those who have been intercessors. You remember that when the children of Israel had worshipped the golden calf, God was about to destroy them. But Moses interceded, and he told God that if He did that, He might as well blot his own name out of the Book of Life.

In other words, Moses said, "If you are going to destroy them, then destroy me, too." The problem is that we have a nature that is quick to condemn. We spend thousands to keep our sight; we spend thousands to save an arm or a leg. We even spend big money on our cars and houses. But how much effort do we spend trying to keep our marriages together?

Once we ourselves get angry and the other person is already angry, we are likely to say, “That’s all she wrote.”

A person who is angry and bitter cannot have an attitude of intercession. To have anger and bitterness is to have a conflict of interest with the intercessory work of Christ.

I would invite you to ask yourself a serious question. What kind of attitude do I have? Do I have the attitude that the devil has, who is our accuser? Or do I have the attitude of Christ, who is our Intercessor?

I firmly am convinced that one of the outstanding characteristics of those who are alive when Jesus comes and who will be taken to be with Him without seeing death is that they will have the spirit of intercession.

So, where have we come to in this matter of the role of attitudes in effective prayer? The first goal of effective prayer is that the Holy Spirit gives to our hearts correct attitudes. We can be asking God for the right things; but if we are doing it for the wrong reasons, our prayers will be ineffective.

Someone asked one time if prayer doesn’t do more good for the person who prays than for anyone or anything else,” and I would have to respond, “I hope so.”

A person who has learned the meaning of effective prayer and who is praying effectively will not only be a blessing to others but will themselves be enjoying all the wonderful grace and power of God in their own lives.

In review of the essential attitudes for effective prayer:

1. Praise is not just shouting or saying Amen or clapping or raising hands. True praise is an attitude of the heart. A selfish person cannot praise God, but will only try to flatter Him.

2. Consecration is an essential attitude of effective prayer. A person doesn’t have to be consecrated to come to God in prayer at the beginning. That is because we must come to God as we are. A person doesn’t give himself an attitude of consecration—God does. You don’t have to be consecrated to come to God. But you have to be consecrated to stay with Him. Real prayer will bring consecration into a person’s heart, and that means we can’t continually come to God and resist being fully consecrated to Him. To do so will result in ineffective prayer. Prayer not only saves others we pray for, it saves us. This is the wonderful thing about prayer.

3. An attitude of confession and repentance are indispensable if we are going to pray effectively. We need to understand that our continually collapsing relationships are a direct result of not doing what the Scriptures say we must do, and that is we must learn and practice how to confess our faults one to another. It’s funny, but we will often confess our faults to our favorite support group but not to the people we have offended and hurt. The text to remember says that we should confess our faults one to another that we may be healed. There is no doubt in my mind that our hurting these days is a direct result of our refusal to confess our faults to each other and so be healed. If we would only follow the Word of God in its most fundamental points, we would not, in many cases, be in the troubles we are in. Jesus told the same thing to the people of His day. He said they were all caught up in details and were not implementing the obvious. We will not be able to get along with each other if we do not have the attitude of confession and repentance. You may have heard me say it before, but "To err is human; not to admit it is dumb."

4. Another attitude of effective prayer is the attitude of thanksgiving. If we do not learn how to do what the Bible says—which is to give thanks in everything—then our attitude toward God will deteriorate as we pass through the suffering and trouble that goes with living on this planet. A while back, I was doing some meetings and the door opened and a wheel chair came in. The lady in the chair was severely handicapped, and I could see that there was a thing on her chair so she could control it with her teeth. I said to her with tongue in cheek, “I hope you know that when Jesus comes you are going to have to give up that wheel chair.” She said to me, “I know it.” Then she told me that her disability had taught her so much. I was amazed. She had the attitude of thanksgiving. She was able to thank God for everything. She understood that God can bring good from whatever we may pass through in this life.

5. We talked about intercessory prayer. I guess the main point was that anybody can wish their friends well; but Jesus told us that we don’t have to be even religious to do good to those who do good to us. That is only the “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” thing. A spirit of intercession is an attitude that actually enables us to pray for people who don’t like us and even for those who are exploiting us and abusing us.

When you and I really begin to get the impact of it all and see things as they really are, then we can appreciate the words of the old song, “It’s not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.”

We can change our attitudes for the worst. J But only the Holy Spirit can change them for the better.

Someone once told me they thought it was selfish to pray for oneself. This depends on what we are praying for. To pray that we will be full of praise to God, to pray that we will be totally consecrated to Him, to pray for an attitude of repentance and confession, to pray to be always thankful, and to pray to love our enemies is not exactly what we would call a selfish prayer!